This invention relates generally to equipment for deoxygenating water, and methods of operating such equipment. More particularly, the invention concerns a method and apparatus for preparing deoxygenated water for use in beverages such as beer.
In at least some modern brewing operations, beer is prepared by combining deoxygenated water with a beer concentrate, sometimes called bright beer. The water feed stock must be almost perfectly or completely deoxygenated; the presence of even a small fraction of one part of air in one million parts of water can result in an unacceptable end product.
It is also desirable to provide a deoxygenated feed water stock which carries dissolved carbon dioxide gas. Water feed stocks containing relatively small amounts (less than 1.0 volumes) of carbon dioxide gas are particularly desirable for making a lightly carbonated beer; these lightly carbonated beers have proved commercially popular in Europe, Jamaica and elsewhere.
In the past, the preparation of these feed water stocks have involved heating the incoming water supply to, say, 140.degree. fahrenheit; exposing the heated water to a high or almost perfect vacuum so as to extract oxygen gases; and then cooling the water. Thereafter, carbon dioxide in the required amount is added to the water. This process is onorous and time-consuming, and the equipment for performing the process is expensive. The requisite equipment requires large amounts of production floor space, and the fuel or energy costs are high.
Accordingly, it is the general object of the present invention to provide equipment and methods for producing almost perfectly deoxygenated water at low cost.
A more specific object is to provide equipment and method of producing virtually completely deoxygenated water without heating and subsequently cooling or recooling the water. A related object is to produce such equipment which will successfully operate on water at a temperature between 34.degree. fahrenheit and ambient.
Another object is to provide equipment and methods of treating water which not only deoxygenates the water but which adds carbon dioxide in useful amounts to the water. More specifically, it is an object to produce deoxygenated water containing less than 1.0 dissolved volumes of carbon dioxide without using holding tanks, carbonating stones or the like.
A related object is to provide such equipment and methods which can be used directly in the production of low-carbonated beverages such as beer.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the drawings. Throughout the drawings, like reference numerals refer to like parts.